


For Blood

by aban_ataashi



Category: Pillars of Eternity
Genre: Backstory, Gen, angsty backstory, because thats the best kind
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-21
Updated: 2018-11-21
Packaged: 2019-08-26 20:14:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16688200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aban_ataashi/pseuds/aban_ataashi
Summary: Rudi loses one family member, and finds another.





	For Blood

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, everyone! This is a short piece about how my ranger Rudi met her lion companion. It's not exactly a happy story, but I hope you like it!

The Ixamitl sun was beating down brutally on Rudi’s back. It was a hot summer, and a dusty one, too. Winds kicked up the loose ground, blowing the dirt into Rudi’s face. Her feet were tired from the journey and her short curls were damp with sweat.

She barely noticed. All of her focus was consumed solely by the hunt.

At just barely fourteen, Rudi was one of the youngest hunters in the village. She was also quick on her way to becoming one of the best. Some of the older hunters called her cocky, but even they couldn’t deny that she could shoot an arrow straighter than most twice her age. She’d been learning since about the time she could walk, every lesson coming straight from her Ma. And her Ma was, without a doubt, _the_ best hunter in the village.

Or rather, she had been.

Rudi had known what to expect when she joined the search party. She knew what it meant when a hunter went out alone and didn’t return for days. Micah had known too, and did his best to try and stop her. He was worried about what she might see, as if she hadn’t already imagined all the horrible things that could have happened to their mother.

But as stubborn as he could get, he was no match for his little sister. Rudi went, and she was there when they found Ma, out on the plains, surrounded by buzzards.

For the other hunters, that was the end of it. Not for Rudi.

They didn’t want her to carry on, but they had as much luck at stopping her as Micah. It occurred to Rudi that perhaps she should feel bad about running off, if only for the worry it was surely causing her brother, but she didn’t. She was the only one who _cared._ If the other hunters cared, they wouldn’t be returning to the village with tails between their legs to bury Ma. They’d be angry. They’d be going after the thing that killed her. Blood for blood.

It was a lion, they’d said. Food was scarce that summer, and some of the beasts were growing desperate enough to attack kith. The theory was backed up by Ma’s wounds, and there was a set of prints nearby accompanied by a faint blood trail. Perfectly trackable, if only the hunters weren’t so cowardly.

But Rudi didn’t need them, anyway.

It took the better part of the day, but Rudi kept moving, not even stopping to let herself rest. It was as if the shadow of her mother’s soul was at her back, urging her on. Or maybe it was just her own refusal to go home, where Ma should be but _wasn’t,_ that pushed her forward. Maybe the others were right, and it wouldn’t make any difference, but at least she would have… revenge? Closure? Rudi wasn’t sure, but whatever it was, it had to be better than the grief the others were wallowing in.

At last, she found the beast. The blood trail had gotten larger, the footprints heavier, and she knew what to expect even before she finally reached the end of her hunt.

A mixture of pride and resentment filled Rudi as she studied the dead lioness. An arrow protruded from her stomach- one last token from the hunter she had killed. She must have bled out slowly during her attempt to return to her den. Blood for blood, after all.

It felt good, knowing that even in death Ma was able to take her attacker down with her. But Rudi was still angry, and now she had nowhere to direct that anger towards.

Rudi approached the carcass, thinking that she could at least retrieve the arrow, when a mewling noise caught her attention. She cautiously drew her weapon and leaned closer, noticing for the first time the small bundle curled against the side of the lioness.

A cub.

On instinct, Rudi raised her bow. Rage and heartbreak thrummed through her chest and into her hands as she aimed an arrow squarely at the cub.

She held that arrow for a long time, willing herself to release it. If she could, maybe it would take the pain and loneliness and _anger_ with it. Maybe she would be able to go home and be a good sister and hunt for her village and not feel like the world was collapsing around her.

As Rudi wrestled with these thoughts, the sky above her was steadily growing darker. The wind picked up once more, and a shiver ran through the small cub as the chill of the night began to set in. Whatever Rudi was going to do, she needed to decide soon.

 

Micah spent a whole five minutes yelling at her before he even noticed the furry yellow bundle in her arms. When his eyes finally landed on the lion cub, his mouth fell open and he was rendered momentarily speechless.

“What is that?” he finally managed.

Rudi hugged the cub tighter to her chest. “His name is Sol.” Micah stared at her in disbelief, and Rudi dropped her eyes to the small creature in her arms. “His mother died.”

Micah was quiet for a long moment. The cub began to wriggle in Rudi’s arms, and she stroked it awkwardly to calm it down. There was nothing more she could say to her brother. She had no explanation for why she had brought this creature back with her, why she had even given it a name as they traveled through the darkening plains together. But she had, and now she _needed_ Micah to understand how important it was that they keep him.

At last, Micah released a deep breath and shook his head. “Well… we better get him home, then.”

 


End file.
